The present invention relates to implantable medical devices and methods for making and using such devices, and more particularly, but not exclusively, relates to devices for promoting bone and/or tissue ingrowth, supporting the natural bone remodeling process through osteoclast and osteoblast activity, and/or for stabilizing and promoting bone and/or tissue fusion between adjacent bones or bony tissues.
Various types of devices, implants and systems have been used to stabilize and promote bone and tissue fusion between adjacent bones or bony tissues in a patient. In one form, implants or devices formed of autograft (bone removed from the patient) or allograft (bone taken from another person) have been used because of their osteoinductive and/or osteoconductive properties. However, various difficulties have been encountered with the use of autograft and allograft. For example, autograft presents high incidences of donor site morbidity, the necessity of a painful second ‘harvesting’ surgical procedure, and the absence of large quantities of bone available for grafting, while allograft presents concerns related to disease transmission, difficulty of procurement and processing, uncertain immune response, and premature resorption. In addition, various considerations related to the anatomical space in which the implant or device is implanted, such as compressive loads for example, can present difficulties in implementing autograft or allograft and/or cause undesirable side effects if autograft or allograft is utilized.
While developments in the stabilization and fusion of adjacent bones or bony tissues have provided steps in the right direction, there remains a need for further development in this area of technology.